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Dr. Crystal Sands, online writing lab project director at Excelsior College, joins the podcast to discuss the development of the new Excelsior OWL, a highly-interactive, media-rich, first-of-its-kind writing lab designed to serve the needs of struggling writers as they make the transition to college-level writing and the writing disciplines.

Listen:

1:01 What is the OWL and what makes it different from other Online Writing Labs?

2:44 Meeting a critical employer demand.

4:06 Kresge Foundation and the development process.

5:38 Open-source and opening the OWL up to the world for free.

6:44 Using the OWL to lower employee training costs.

7:06 Breaking down individual sections of the OWL.

8:33 Incorporating the award-winning ESL-WOW into the OWL.

9:21 Digital writing.

10:39 Introducing gaming into the curriculum with “Paper Capers”.

12:21 A writing teacher’s favorite section.

13:58 Pilot program studying the impact of the OWL on writing outcomes.